Automatic spool-machine.



Patented Dec. 4,' I900.

NIL 663,214.

E. P. BROWNELL. AUTOMATIC SPOOL MACHINE.

(Application filed Aug. 9, 1899.)

4 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

4. 0 I. a If 6 p ir-I I o 0 J G 0. W 0 t a 1 m .0 II m" .o I I P a f i mm I I 8 2 l muur 8 o L m. n l I F1 o A l... M 6 w 2 1 Atwr ney. I

Wk 3 a Witnesses.-

Jmrwonms PEIERS co. PhOTO-LlTNO. wnsnmcron, n. c.

N0. 663,2l4. Patented Dec. 4,1900.

7 E. P. BROWNELL.

AUTOMATIC SPOOL MACHINE.

(Application filed 'Au 9. 1899.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

no Modal.)

a- E- T i 4 TITH' W'itnasses III/yew g U71. \7 i c I V Attorney.

Patented Dec. 4, I900.

E. P. BRUWNELL.

AUTOMATIC SPOOL MACHINE.

(Application fiid Aug. 9, 1899.)

4 Sheets$heat 3.

(No Model.)

no: ss3,2|4. Patented Dec. 4,1900.

E. P. BROWNELL.

AUTOMATIC SPOOL MACHINE.

(Application filed Aug. 9, 1899.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Shoat 4.

Q:- Y Witnesses Inventor M 'W By- Attorney 1 m: Noam: PsTsns coPHOTO-LIYNO. wnswmu'mu. n c

UNITED STATEs PATENT EMERSON P. BROWNELL, on BARTON, VERMONT.

AUTOMATIC SPOOL-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent in. 663,214, dated.December 4, 189.

Application filed August 9, 1899. Serial No. 726,655. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EMERSON P. BROWNELL, a citizen of Great Britain,residing at Barton, in the county of Orleans and State of Vermont, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticSpool-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to automatic spoolmaking machines-4'. e., a machinewhich makes the spools from rough blanks previously cut the properlength, allowing for the stock wasted in finishing or facing off theends.

The object of the invention is to simplify both the construction andoperation of such machines without in any way affecting theirefficiency, and other advantages will be mentioned in detail in thefollowing specification.

The nature of my improvements will also be found fully set forth in thefollowing specification and claims and clearly illustrated in thedrawings accompanying and forming a part of the same, of which- Figure 1is a side elevation of my improved machine, Fig. 2 being an enlargedcross-sec tional elevation of certain centrally-located portions. Fig. 3is a sectional view showing the conductor for spoolblanks, its support,and other details. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a frame upon whichthe transverselymovable tool or cutter carriage is mounted. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of one of the head or tail stocks of my improvedautomatic lathe orspool-machine. Fig. 6 isaperspective view of thesupport for the spool-blank conductor shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 isone of apair of adjustable frames which attach at either side of the supportshown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the transversely-movableknife or cutter carriage. Fig. 9 is an end view of the same. Fig. 10 isalongitudinal sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 11 is an endelevation of one of the supports or head-stocks for the boring andturning head spindles. Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the same. Figs.13, 14, and 15 are respectively a side elevation, a plan, and asectionalelevation of my improved antifriction connection for the boring andturning spindles and their driving-cams. Fig. 16 is a plan view of oneof the drivingcams. Fig. 17 is a side elevation of one of my improvedspool boring and facing heads, showing a portion of a bit in position.Fig. 18 is an end view of the same. Fig. 19 is a longitudinal sectionalelevation of the same. Figs. 20, 21, 22, and 23 are various views of animproved stop-block or rest for arresting the forward motion of theboring spindles after they have forced a drill or reainer into aspool-blank and while they are facing off the ends of the same, Fig. 24being a detail in end elevation. Fig. 25 represents details of myinvention in section. Fig. 26 is a plan view of the machine embodyingmyinvention, a portion of the cams at each end being broken away. Fig.27 is a perspective of the two guides.

Similar reference-letters designate corresponding parts throughout thevarious views.

The spool-blanks are sawed the proper or desired length by an operatorwho stands at' the back of the machine, the stick from which he sawsthem being held upon and near one end of an inclined spool-blankconductor, at one side of which is mounted a suitable saw, the operatorhaving simply to slide one end of the stick until it comes in contactwith either a gage or one side of the conductor and then to push thestick against the saw, the blank thus taken from the stick moving bygravity down the inclined conductor, from which it drops within aclamping device, which holds said blank while it is being bored andfaced. This arrangement for cutting the spool-blanks is not only veryconvenient, but it also serves to greatly decrease the expense ofproducing the spools by saving the labor which would otherwise beexpended in cutting the -blanks on aseparate machine and conveying andfeeding them to the spool-machine, and by means of this arrangement forcutting the blanks I am enabled to efiect a great saving of stock, forif a knot or other imperfection appears in the stick the operator simplyslides the stick in front of the saw far enough to cut ofi the imperfectportion only, which he removes, when hecan then slide the stick farenough to out a blank, having lost only the short imperfect portion,instead of throwing away a fulllength blank.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A represents the main bed of mymachine, which is supported upon suitable legs a, and to this bed areattached a pair of frames B by means of screws, as shown, and in theseframes are carried a pair of arbors D D and a pair of arbors E E, theformer being in exact alinement and the latter also being in alinementand parallel with the arbors D D, but on ,a lower plane and a little toone side, instead of on a vertical line therewith.

Brackets a are provided at each end of the machine, having bearings fora vertical shaft F, said bearings being provided with caps (1 as seen inFig. 1. These shafts carry each a cam GH for driving, respectively, thearbors D E, suitable connections, respectively I J, being carried in thehead-stocks O for this purpose. A driving-shaft K is mounted in bearingsa formed in the legs a of the machine, and this transmits power to theend shafts F by means of bevel-gearsf k,

' as shown.

In order to use as light a shaft K as possible, suitablebracket-bearings may be provided for the center portion of said shaft,such as shown at a, in Fig. 1, between which may be mounted upon saidshaft the necessary cams for operating the various mechanisms by whichthe spool-blanks are manipulated while being bored, reamed, faced off,and turned, as will be hereinafter described.

It is of course immaterial by what means the shaft K is driven; but inFig. 1 I show a large spur-gear is mounted upon said shaft, and thismeshes with a spur-pinion at the farther side of said gear and mountedon a counter-shaft k which may carry an ordinary tight and loose pulley,the shifter for which may be attached to and operated by a frame whichis loosely connected to the bed A of the lathe or spool-machine, as seenin Figs. 1 and 2.

The knife-carriage L is adapted to move toward and away from a spoolandis mounted in a suitable frame Z, secured to the bed A. The carriage isprovided with an inclined socket, in which the knives Z may be securedby set-screws Z and said carriage may be moved at the proper time bymeans of a lever Z to which it is adjustably connected at l said leverbeing operated by a cam Z on the shaft K.

M is a casting which is bolted to the central portion of the bed A, andthis supports one end of the inclined spool-blank conductor N, togetherwith other portions of my improved machine not yet described.

0 is a circular saw; 0, the arbor on which it is mounted; o, thebracket-bearings bolted to the bed A and supporting said arbor 0, and oa belt-pulley mounted on said arbor, and which same may be driven by abelt.

I is a frame carried in the ways m of the support My One end of thisfrarn eis arched, so that it may pass above and not interfere with themotion of the cutter-heads 'd, carried on the boring-spindles D,withwhich said frame would otherwise be in line, and on this same end ofsaid frame is secured the clamping-block 10, having a concaved face 19for contact with a spool-blank, as seen in Fig. 2. In' this view is alsoshown a separatortongue p which may be formed upon or secured to the topsurface of said clampingblock 19 for holding back the spool-blanks,which would otherwise crowd upon said clamping-block and possibly fallthrough without being turned into spools. The frame P may be actuated bya lever 19 to which it is adjustably connected at 19 said lever beingpivoted to the projecting arm m of the support M (clearly shown in Figs.2 and 6) and operated by a cam p mounted on shaft K.

m is a rest carried by the support M and against which a blank is heldby the clamping-block p, and Q is a movable tongue or support forthespool-blanks, and upon which they will drop successively and besupported until the clamping-block 10 has secured a spool-blank betweenitself and the rest m when the support Q will move from under said blankand permit it to drop upon the spring-supported tongue R, which passesloosely through the supportM and is adjustably connected at r to theknife-carriage L or to a projection therefrom, said tongue B beingadapted to carry a spool-blank to the proper position to be grasped bythe ordinary turning-heads carried on the spindles E,when thesupporting-tongue R will be removed from under the spool-blank (thespring r permit: ting said tongue R to drop sufficiently for thepurpose) by the forward motion of the knifecarriage, which then movestoward the spoolblank for the purpose of turning the same.

The sliding support Q is carried above the tongue R and within thecasting M and is attached by the connection q to the lever q, said leverbeing pivoted in the arm m of the casting M and operated at its lowerend by the cam g mounted upon the shaft K.

In order to properly feed the spool-blanks to and upon the tongue Rafter they have been bored and faced, some suitable arrangement must beprovided at each end for guiding them, and such guides must be got outof the way as soon as they have performed their function, so as toofierno obstruction to the ready approach of the turning-heads e, whichare to hold said blanks while they are turned to the desired shape bythe cutters or knives Z. For this purpose I show in the drawings a pairof movable guides S, which slide in a groove 8 provided in the bracketss, which are mounted one at each side of the support M upon angle-platesm bolted to said support, a convenient means for operating said movableguides S being to connect them at their tops, by means of pivoted barsor links 3 with a crossbar s, to one end of which bar is attached alever 8 one end of said lever being pivoted at a fixed point and theother end to one end of a rod 5 extending downward and operated by a cam3 mounted upon the shaft K.

The heads 6 at the ends of the spindles E maybe of any constructioncommon for their purpose, their face being either serrated or providedwith a few prongs and with a central conical point similarto the centerpoint of any lathe; but the heads (1 of the boring- .arbors D arenecessarily different from an ordinary lathe-chuck for carrying a drill,and the construction of these heads is clearly illustrated in Figs. 17,18, and 19. The head dis longitudinally perforated, one end of saidperforation being large enough for threading to an arbor D,the remainderbeing smaller and adapted to receive a drill d or a reamer, if desired,and the bit or reamer socket may be hushed, as at d for theaccommodation of small bits. The face of each head 01 is chan neled onone side at an angle for the reception of a suitable cutter d and againchanneled at d for carrying 01f the shavings, and the said face is alsogrooved, as at 01 to re-. duce friction and prevent overheating. Thecutter d is retained in place by a clamp d", and a counterbalance d issecured to the opposite sideof said head d, as shown. These heads may befitted each with a bit and the cams which move their arbors D back andforth be so set or timed as to cause one to move forward a little aheadof the other and each to bore a little more than half-way through aspool-blank, thereby forming a clean hole through said blank withoutinterference one with the other, or the heads may be fitted one with abit and the other with a reamer slightly larger than the bit and thecams G so set as to carry each tool clear through the spool-blank, thebit first passing through at one end and the reamer following in at theopposite end while the bit is being withdrawn. Either of these methodswill be certain to correct any inaccuracy and produce a good clean holethrough a spool. As these arbors move at such a high rate of speed, muchtrouble might be experienced by the heating of a collar or any otherstop with which they may be provided to rest against their bearings forlimiting their length of stroke.

In the drawings I show a sort of cone-pulley D, which is rigidly securedto each arbor for driving the same, and one end of these pulleys servesthe purpose of a stop; and to guard against the danger of heating whenfacing offthe ends of spools I provide a stopcollar or stop-plate with aball-bearing adapted to take the end thrust of the pulley or pulleys D.This maybe made in the end of each frame B which is adjacent to thepulleys D and surrounding the bearing for the arbor D, or it may beformed in an attachable disk or plate T, as shown best in Figs. 20 and21, said disk being perforated, as at t, for the loose passage of thearbor D and provided with a lateral extension 25', having elongatedopenings 25 for the admission of screws by which it may be adj ust-ablyattached to the frame B, so as to render it capable of being set at apoint to limit the longitudinal motion of the boring-arbor for a givenlength of spool or to take up all wear or any unnecessary end thrust ofsaid arbors. The balls 15 are arranged in a circle around theperforation t and are retained therein in a manner to bear against thepulleys D by the rings t ,,and a set-screw t is provided in the stop Tat a point opposite to the extension t, so as to steady that side of thestop-plate, said screw being adjusted to bear against the frame B afterthe extension 15' shall have been made fast to said frame. Still othermeans for taking up the wear which would cause slack in the end motionof the boring-arbors D and also the turning-arbors E is provided in thedevice for connecting the outer end of each of said arbors with the camsG H, by which they are made to move longitudinally as and when required,and these connections, I J, I will now describe, or rather, as all fourof them are alike, I will describe one of the connections I. Therectangular bars I J are carried, one of each, in each head or tailstock 0, as shown in Fig. 1. The rectangular bars I have a centrallongitudinal perforation t', a portion of which at one end is ofincreased diameter, as at 1;, and provided with a cap i secured theretoby screws, as seen in Fig. 2a. The perforation icontains a spindle U,having at one end a disk u, provided in its outer face with an annulargroove u, this disk being a loose'fit for and contained within thechamber t", which also contains two other independent disks to "a and isgrooved in one or both sides, as seen, respectively, at of it tocorrespond with that of the disk u. The disks to u, are separated byballs resting in their grooves, and between the disks u n rests theflange -v of the stud V, and said stud passes through the disk of andmay connect by thread with the arbor D. The grooves of the disks to tocontain balls which bear against opposite sides of the flange 4) of thestud V, and the farther end of the spindle U is slotted to receive oneedge of a tapered keyu passing through an elongated opening ti'formedfor the purpose in the part'I and by means of which any slack occurringbetween the stud V and the spindle U may be readily taken up. That endof the part I which is adjacent to the cam G is provided with anelongated opening a for the reception of an adjustable block W, theprojecting stud w of which rests within the groove 9 of said cam G, asseen in 1 and 16. The top of said block W is threaded with a nut to forholding said block in place, and for the better illustration of saidblock the said nut is removed in Fig. 14:. The block W is provided witha threaded perforation through which passes the threaded portion of astud 102, the smooth portion of which passes through the metal at theouter end of the elongated opening 1%, and rotating said stud the saidblock W may be adjusted to any position within said opening which may bedesired for either taking up wear, taking up slack motion, or for facingoff spools of various lengths.

The operation of my improved machine is as follows: The operator hasonly to saw off the spool-blanks from a stick which he passes alongaguide N, the blanks thus cut off passing down the inclined spool-blankconductor N and dropping one at a time upon the tongue Q between theguides S at its ends and the clamp 19 and stop m at opposite sides. Saidclamp then moves toward the blank and presses it tightly against thestop 777?. The guides S rise out of the way of the boring and facing-offheads don the arbors D, which then move toward each other, boring,reaming, and squaring off the blank, which is then ready to be turned.The bit-heads then draw out or away from a blank, the guides S fall toposition seen in Fig. 2, the clamp 19 releases its grip, the tongue Qmoves away, and the blank drops to the spring-supported tongue R,whichis attached to and moves with the knife-carriage L, which at such timeis in the position seen in Fig. 2. The lower spindles E then come up,grip the spool-blank, and start it revolving. The knife-carriage thenmoves toward the back of the machine, the knives l turning the spool,after which the knife-carriage returns to former position, the spindlesE separate, and the finished spool drops through the knife-carriage,when the operation is repeated upon other spool-blanks.

Having described rny improved machine, what I claim is- 1. In anautomatic spool-machine, a pair of endwise-moving shafts, or arbors,arranged in an alinement and provided on their adjacent ends withcutter-heads adapted to face off the ends of a spool, and cams formoving the shafts orarbors endwise, combined with stop-plates providedwith ball-bearings and which are applied to the shafts or arbors forpreventing heating of the parts when facing off the ends of spools.

2. In an automatic spool-machine, a reciprocating arm for supporting aspool-blank, an endwise-moving clamp for holding the spoolblank,endwise-moving shafts carrying boring and facing heads, cams for movingsaid shafts and heads endwise, and means for revolving the cams,combined with two automatically-acting end guides for conducting saidblank from the boring to the turning device, a spring-supported tongueconnected with the clamp, and upon which the spoolblank rests untilgrasped by the turningheads, two endwise-moving shafts provided on theirinner ends with turning-heads, a reciprocating carriage carryingsuitable knives ing-block having a concaved face for contact with thespool, and a separator-tongue p and means for reciprocating the frame P,combined with the support M upon which the frame P is mounted, means.for moving said support, the rest M carried by the support M, andagainst which the blank is held by the clamp 10, and the movable tongueQ for supporting the spool-blanks, and upon which they will successivelydrop, the spring-supported tongue R, and theknife-carriage to which thetongue is looselyconnected.

5. In an automatic spool-machine, endwisemoving shafts provided withboring and facing heads upon their inner ends, turning heads orspindles, and means for reciprocating them,the support M, means forreciproeating it at right angles to the shafts which carry the boringand facing heads, the frame P provided with a clamping-block, themovable tongue Q, and the spring-supported tongue R which passes looselythrough the support M, combined with a knife-carrier to which the tongueis loosely connected.

6. In an automatic spool-machine, the main frame provided with thebrackets a at its ends, the vertical shafts mounted in said brackets,and which are provided with means at their lower ends for receivingpower, and at their upper ends with the two drivingcams, the two sets ofendwise-moving shafts or arbors carrying suitable boring and facing andclamping tools at their inner ends, and the head-stops 0, combined withsuitable connections I, J, by means of which the two shafts aremovedendwise at the same time they are made to revolve by suitablemeans, and suitable adjustable means connected with the connections I,J, for connecting them with the cams, and taking up the slack in the endmotion.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EMERSON P. BROWNELL.

Witnesses:

J. B. THURSTON, L. M. HUBBARD.

